fall 2003 vol.9 no. 2                                                                                                                            Return to Contents
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2003–2004 Board of Directors

Back row, left to right: Sandy Eaves, Kim Cantu, Melissa Sherman, Cecile Wiginton, Ellen Lockwood, Debbie Skolaski
Front row, left to right: Pam Horn, Tamara Null, Karla Schwemmer, Kathryn Moore, Marriann Porter, Eyvonne Palmer, Joncilee Miller.

2003–2004 executive committee

Melissa Sherman–President

Melissa Sherman graduated Cum Laude from Texas Women’s University, with a BS in Government, with a Legal Assistant emphasis, and a Minor in Business Administration. She continued her professional development by passing the National Association of Legal Assistant’s Certified Legal Assistant Exam in 1992 and by becoming certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Civil Trial Law in 1995.
Melissa began working in the legal field in 1985 while attending college. After graduation, she began working as a paralegal in the area of first party insurance defense. She now works at Farmers Insurance Company’s in-house firm, Amis & Bell, in Arlington, in the area of personal injury defense. She is a past President of the Fort Worth Paralegal Association and is on the Texas Board of Legal Specialization Civil Trial Exam Commission for Legal Assistants.

Melissa and has been married to her husband, Mike, for fifteen years and they have three daughters, Meredith, Mallory, and Madelyn. She is very involved in her church and her children’s activities.

Cantu–President-Elect

Kim J. Cantu, CLA, is a paralegal with the Dallas law firm of McKool Smith, P.C. She joined the firm in July 2003, after working in a corporation’s legal department for six (6) years. Kim has 20+ years of experience as a paralegal and enjoys the challenges of a heavy civil litigation practice.
Kim achieved her CLA designation in 1996; she has an Associate Degree in Paralegal Studies from the Tarrant County Community College, Hurst, Texas, and she is working to complete her undergraduate degree in legal studies from Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth, Texas.

Kim began her legal career in North Carolina; she then moved to Arizona; and finally arriving in Dallas in 1990, where she plans to stay. Kim enjoys her involvement in the local paralegal organizations and has served on the Board of Directors for the Dallas Area Paralegal Association (DAPA), Metroplex Association of Corporate Paralegals (MACP), and for three (3) years, she served as District 2 Director (Dallas County), Legal Assistants Division, State Bar of Texas (LAD), and currently as LAD’s 2003-2004 President-Elect.

Kim is particularly proud of the 2001 formation of a Dallas affiliated association of the National Association of Legal Assistants, Inc. (NALA), i.e., Legal Assistants of North Texas Association (LANTA), and she has served as its 2001-2003 president. In 2002, LANTA nominated Kim for the NALA Affiliated Associations’ Award, and Kim was honored by NALA with the 2002 NALA Affiliated Associations’ Outstanding Contribution Award.

Additionally, Kim is proud to serve on the Paralegal Advisory Boards for Texas A&M – Commerce; and Tarrant County College, Hurst , Texas.

Ellen Lockwood–Treasurer

Ellen Lockwood, CLAS, received her Bachelor of Music (BM) degree from Southwestern University and her paralegal certificate from Southwestern Paralegal Institute (now Southwestern Professional Institute) in Houston.

She served on the Board of Directors of the Legal Assistants Division from 1995 to 1997 and served as Treasurer of the Division from 1996 to 1997. She has been back on the LAD board since 2001. Ellen has also served as the Chair of the Professional Ethics Committee of the Division since 1997, as well as serving on various other Division committees. She is also a past president of the Alamo Area Professional Legal Assistants. She is frequent speaker on paralegal ethics.

In addition to her involvement in paralegal organizations, Ellen is also involved in Dachshund Rescue and keeps up with her own herd of three dachshunds and a cat.

Ellen has eleven years of paralegal experience in civil litigation and intellectual property. She is currently employed as the Intellectual Property Specialist for Clear Channel Worldwide.

Pam Horn–Secretary

Pam Horn serves as District 4 Director, Secretary of the Division, and Chair of the newly-formed Continuing Education Committee for LAD. She is in the second year of her first term on the board. Pam currently works in the area of utility law for the Austin firm Lloyd Gosselink Blevins Rochelle Baldwin & Townsend.

She has been a member of LAD since becoming a paralegal in 1987 and has served as the President, President-Elect & NALA Liaison, and Secretary/Treasurer of Capital Area Paralegal Association in Austin.

Marriann Porter– Parliamentarian

Mariann is a paralegal assistant in the firm of Gordon & Mott P.C. in El Paso, Texas, and has been in the legal profession for 10 years. She specializes in Real Estate law. She received her Associates Degree in Sciences specializing in Legal Assistant in 1994 from El Paso Community College, her CLA designation in 1995, and is currently attending Howard Payne University were she will obtain her Bachelors Degree in Business.

Mariann has been a member of LAD since 1995, and has served as the Director of District 16 for the past three years. She is also a member of the El Paso Association of Legal Assistants, is active on the board as NALA Liaison, and was voted Legal Assistant of the Year for 2002.

Marian was born and raised in Buffalo New York and moved to El Paso, Texas in 1978. She has been married to her husband Wayne for 15 years and has one son, Travis, who is a freshman in college and majoring in music.

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